Khyber Pass Copy

A Khyber Pass Copy is a firearm manufactured by cottage gunsmiths in the Khyber Pass region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The area has long had a reputation for producing unlicensed, home-made copies of firearms using whatever materials are available- more often than not, railway lines/sleepers, junked motor vehicles, and scrap metal. The quality on such rifles varies- as one might expect- ranging from "As good as a factory-produced example" to "dangerously unsafe", tending towards the latter end of the scale.

The most commonly encountered Khyber Pass Copies are of British military firearms, notably Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, and Lee-Enfield rifles, although AK-47 rifles, Webley Revolvers, Tokarev TT-33s, Colt M1911s, and Browning Hi-Powers have also been encountered as Khyber Pass Copies.

The Khyber Pass gunsmiths first acquired examples of the various British service arms during 19th Century British military expeditions in the North-West Frontier, which they used to make their own copies. During World War II, some of the locally organised Irregular Forces were issued Khyber Pass made rifles - partly for financial reasons, and partly because there was concern the troops would steal their rifles and desert if issued higher-quality British or Indian manufactured rifles. [Skennerton, Ian: "The Lee-Enfield Story", page 334. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 1993]

Identification

Since the Khyber Pass rifles were (and still are) usually copied exactly from a "master" rifle, which may itself be a Khyber Pass Copy (markings and all), it's not uncommon to see Khyber Pass rifles with numerous and glaring errors, as well as a number of other identifying factors, notably:

*Spelling errors in the markings (the most common of which is a backwards "N" in "Enfield")
*V.R. ("Victoria Regina") cyphers dated after 1901- Queen Victoria died in 1901, so any rifles made after this should be stamped "E.R" ("Edward Rex", referring to King Edward VII)
*Generally inferior workmanship, including weak/soft metal, poorly finished wood, and badly struck markings.

There has been surprisingly little interest in the Khyber Pass varieties of rifle in the Military Surplus collecting community, which is odd given that many of the Khyber Pass rifles are richly decorated and make excellent "wall-hangers" or conversation pieces. A number have recently been imported into the US by returning soldiers and some of the larger Arms Wholesalers, however, and buyers should be aware of this fact when purchasing antique British firearms of uncertain provenance.

Ammunition

The ammunition used in the region is often underloaded, being made from a variety of powders or even old film (which contains nitrocellulose, a key component of smokeless powder)- and as such, Khyber Pass Copy rifles cannot generally stand up to the pressures generated by modern commercial ammunition. In short, it is generally advised that "they not be fired under any circumstances", although there are a few collectors out there who have made "extremely" mild handloaded cartridges for their Khyber Pass rifles. This practice is NOT recommended, and anyone firing a Khyber Pass rifle is doing so at substantial personal risk.

Footnotes

References

* Skennerton, Ian "The Lee-Enfield Story" (1993). Arms & Militaria Press, Gold Coast QLD (Australia) ISBN 1-85367-138-X

External links

* [http://www.martinihenry.com An excellent source of information on the Martini-Henry and Martini-Enfield rifles]